


100 Themes Challenge #9 - Excuses

by Yunimori



Series: 100 Themes Challenge [9]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: 100 Themes Challenge, Abusive Parents, Drabble, Gen, Implied Emotional Manipulation, Rescue, Short One Shot, locked room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 07:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21175340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yunimori/pseuds/Yunimori
Summary: Themes Writing Challenge.Please read tags for possible issues. 100 Themes Challenge drabbles may not have a proper summary.Backstory drabble.Optimus had been helping Shockwave realize how abnormal things were at home. That didn't really help him when he was locked in his room, though, with every means of communication either taken away or closely monitored. He had to make excuses if he wanted to be okay. Right?





	100 Themes Challenge #9 - Excuses

**Author's Note:**

> I'm copying all of my Shockwave and Optimus/Shockwave ficlets and drabbles from my tumblr accounts over to my ao3 account. Most of these are going to be incredibly short (hence the drabble tag), and either in short-form format or 100 Themes Challenge format.
> 
> This is just for my own peace of mind, making sure they are safe from tumblr's random purges.
> 
> However, feel free to read them and let me know if you enjoyed them!

Staring out his window was getting old. 

He could have laid down, tried to sleep a little, but Shockwave, even as sleep-deprived as he was, had a limit on how _much_ he could sleep in any set period of time, and he’d reached that already. Nevermind that he was a quivering ball of anxiety right now, and laying down would probably result in that ball getting bigger than it already was. 

Being locked in his room without food, with what few entertainments he had taken away by his father, was starting to get to him. 

He didn’t even have the excuse of having to work to convince Jhiaxus to let him out at the moment. The Senate was in recess, and would be for a month. Shockwave didn’t have to go to his office, and that was the only excuse Jhiaxus would accept when things were like this. So he was simply…in his room. With his books, his pencils, his paper, his physical comm unit, all of it taken away by his father in a fit of rage. 

Shockwave didn’t even know what he’d done _this_ time to fuel Jhiaxus’ ire; try as he might, he could think of nothing that would have _caused_ a three-days-so-far lockdown with nothing to occupy his mind other than the window. He’d been _good_. 

Even the window wasn’t really enough, not anymore. Once he’d seen what he could of the courtyard, there really wasn’t much else to watch unless something flew by his window, and Shockwave could only count flecks in the plexiglass so often before he felt he’d go mad. 

Thankfully, Jhiaxus couldn’t take away his built-in comm. The only problem there was that he knew his father would be monitoring the physical one, so he couldn’t…really call out. Or do much of anything else. 

That didn’t stop calls coming _in_, though. 

The quiet, familiar _ping_ came through just as Shockwave gave in and rested his head against his window, starting to dive down into his imagination so he wouldn’t be _completely_ bored. It startled him enough that he answered without thinking about his father listening in. “Pax?”

“_Shockwave, is everything okay? I haven’t seen you at all the past few days.”_

It was so _good_ to hear a friendly, dearly-loved voice that for a minute, Shockwave honestly couldn’t say anything. 

“_Shockwave?”  
_

_“_Oh, er…everything’s fine, Pax…” With Pax’s questions came Shockwave’s anxiety. Jhiaxus would be monitoring the call, he had no doubts about that. Shockwave _couldn’t_ tell Pax that he’d been locked away, that his father was in _a mood_, it would only result in extending the lockdown. He didn’t want that; he was already at the end of his rope trying to keep from being bored and hungry. He had to think of an excuse and think of one _fast_.

“_Are you sure? It’s not like you to go so long without popping your head up at least once.”  
_

Pax was joking, Shockwave could tell, and it made him smile just a little, though it was twitchy, his stomach churning at how much he was going to have to _lie. _He was _terrible_ at lying.

“I’m sure, dear, and I’m _so sorry_. I honestly hadn’t realized it had been a few days. Since the Senate is out I’ve been trying to get caught back up on…on homework and getting my labs done. I’ve…I-I’ve been in deep study mode.” 

The silence on the other end of the line was…telling, to say the least. It made Shockwave’s stomach drop, made him bite his lip until he felt plasma. _Please believe me. I don’t want to lie to you, but please believe me_, _so Father can’t make it worse_.  
  
“_I should have known. You’ve been talking about playing catch-up once the recess hit for a few months now, I should have realized you’d go deep once it started.”_  
  
He had done no such thing. Shockwave hadn’t mentioned catching up _once_, because he hadn’t _needed_ to, not really. The tone of Pax’s voice was still light, if a little chastizing, but his words carried a different meaning for Shockwave. He understood something was up. Something that Shockwave couldn’t talk about.  
  
_Pax…thank you for realizing, if not for believing me_. 

He laughed quietly, forcing himself to sound sheepish. “Yeah, well…I have to get my classes caught up at _some_ point, right? Better to do it now while I don’t have work distracting me. Um…”  
  
“_Do you have time to take a break tonight, at least? You’re missed.”  
_

Ow. That hurt. “I..um…n-not tonight. I’m in the middle of a lab…if I let it go, I might just…y’know…set the lab on fire. But soon. _Soon_. I promise? Because I _I miss you too._” He didn’t mean to sound desperate, but Shockwave missed the longing in his own voice until it was too late. The words had already been said, the tone already set.  
  
“_You’d better keep that promise, dear one. Or else I’ll be coming to the lab myself and carrying you out bodily to take a break. Call me?”  
_

“I…I-I will, Pax. You won’t have to. See you soon?”_  
_

_“Of course, Shockwave. See you soon.”  
_

The soft click of the connection breaking sounded like a blaster shot to Shockwave. He hoped it had been enough. Pax knew something was up, but hopefully…hopefully Jhiaxus would think Shockwave was being _good_, making excuses that were easily believed.

_Oh Pax._..please come carry me out. I wish you would.__


End file.
